8 MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 



on his gun. This much being decided, it at once 

 occurs to the beginner, What kind of a weapon 

 shall I get ? Of course, muzzle-loaders are now 

 out of the question ; and among the multitudes of 

 breech-loaders in the market, one has only to 

 consult his taste or the length of his purse. 

 Therefore it is simply useless for me to recom- 

 mend any particular make of gun. Good single- 

 barrel breech-loaders can be bought for from nine 

 dollars to twenty dollars, while double-barrels cost 

 from fifteen dollars upward. For ordinary collect- 

 ing, a twelve-gauge is perhaps better than any 

 other, as such birds as ducks, hawks and crows 

 can be readily killed with it. For warblers, 

 wrens, and other small birds, however, a much 

 smaller gauge gun is almost indispensable, as a 

 large gun sends the shot with such force that it 

 not only penetrates the body of the bird, but also 

 goes out on the opposite side ; thus each shot 

 makes two holes, when one is all that is neces- 

 sary to kill. This fact should then always be 

 kept in mind, and as a rule load lightly, with just 

 enough powder to cause the shot to penetrate well 

 into the bird without going through it. In a 

 twelve-gauge gun, two drachms of powder behind 

 an ounce of shot is sufficient to kill a bird like a 



